Chromatic Dragon
|weight=4500 |nutr=1700 |size=Gigantic |resistances=Fire, cold, sleep, disintegration, shock, poison, acid, stoning |resistances conveyed=Fire (17%), cold (17%), sleep (17%), disintegration (17%), shock (17%), poison (17%) (random) |reference=monst.c#line3210 }} The She possesses the breath attacks of all of the other types of dragon as well as their resistances (and grants one at random if you eat the corpse). She is a spellcaster. Strategy The Chromatic Dragon is located in a large, open, hexagonally shaped level (see the caveman quest), and always starts out sleeping. The room also contains shriekers, which may wake her up. She respects Elbereth and like most quest nemeses, teleports to the up staircase when wounded. Typical strategy involves burning Elbereth onto the upstairs (or just engraving with whatever and levitate over it), and standing on it while fighting her. She will then stay next to you, casting spells but neither attacking physically nor using her fearsome breath weapons, and you can beat on her until she expires. (Note that the advice Shaman Karnov gives, to "keep moving" when fighting the dragon, is in fact a really really bad strategy: stepping away from her exposes you to disintegration breath. No wonder they need your help.) Because the Chromatic Dragon starts out sleeping, you will need to wake her up. In general you will not want to approach her, as attacking to wake her up may cause her to teleport to the stairs, where she can summon nasties to surround you with, causing much aggravation. Ordinary methods of waking monsters, such as beating a drum or throwing something at her are advised. You can also attack one of the shriekers on the level, which may shriek, causing her to wake up. If any of these methods can be done from the upstairs, this is advisable, as she will teleport to your position immediately. If you can bring a pet into the lair, it may attack one of the shriekers for you while you wait on the upstairs. Additionally, recall that shriekers are mobile, though slow--they will come closer to you if you wait for them...perhaps close enough for a sling attack. The Chromatic Dragon is a spellcaster, so it is optimal to obtain magic resistance before facing her. She can curse the player's inventory and disintegrate random pieces of armor with spells--and summon nasties, of course, whether or not you have magic resistance. Reflection is highly desirable as well, as she possesses all breath attacks, including the disintegration breath of the Black dragon. Of course, in the world of Nethack, obtaining these attributes can be easier said than done. Magic resistance can be foregone if you are able to uncurse your inventory (holy water can be made at the altar on the first quest level) and willing to risk the destruction of your armor. Facing the chromatic dragon without reflection can be frightening, but she will not breathe on you if she is next to you, and can not if she is not in a straight line along one of the eight aiming directions in Nethack. So if you engrave on the stairs, wake her with a loud noise, and never leave the stairs, you hopefully will not get disintegrated! A risk, but one you may be willing to take for the prize of the Sceptre of Might, a splendid melee weapon that also conveys magic resistance. Once she is dead, the player can invoke the Sceptre of Might for conflict if necessary, to help deal with any remaining summoned monsters. Encyclopedia entry She is referred to as Tiamat in the Encyclopedia.